Best place to get a kitten from after previous bad experience

[nmka]

Hi there, we recently purchased our first family pet, a 9 week old bengal cross who sadly died exactly one week after we got him of corona virus. We loved him lots and its upset the children so much. We would like to get another kitten next year (vets advised we wait due to the virus being in our home now and told us not to be put off due to what happened) but im not confident on where I should be getting a kitten from. We thought we were doing right last time, bought off gumtree, apparently vet checked, de flead, wormed etc, paid £150, went to owners house, she had 4 adult cats inc mother and litter of 5 kittens. I would hate to put the family through that kind of upset again so please wise cat owners..where is the best place to get a healthy kitten from?

I'm sorry about your kitten. Gumtree is useful for second hand kids stuff but the worst place to get a living creature. I think you know that now. These people are out to make money without a care for animal welfare.
Rescue cats from a reputable rescue will most definitely have been vet checked, vaccinated, chipped, fleas, wormed and neutered if old enough with records to hand. You will need to pay an adoption fee, it's £75 at the CP I'm at.
So contact rescues in your area avoid buying online.

A rescue of course. You should never buy kittens. It encourages people to breed irresponsibly and there are far too many cats and kittens for the amount of homes available.

You can't guarantee that any cat/kitten won't have corona virus, unless you request a specific test for it, but at least kittens from rescues will be checked over by a vet and vaccinated and of course neutered if they're old enough. You could always pay for any kitten to be tested for corona virus before taking it. The test costs around £50 and takes about a week as it has to sent away (usually to Glasgow), but at least it would put your mind at rest about that specific issue.

Go to a rescue. A person who sells crossbreeed kittens is not a responsible pet owner. Unless you can afford to spend upwards of £500 on a properly bred pedigree then you should always go to a shelter IMO. Buying kittens for £150 from gumtree sellers encourages the sort of irresponsible breeding that leads to sick animals like the one you ended up with. Shelters don't always put kittens onto their websites so call and speak to someone.

We got our cats from Cats Protection, we paid £60 each for them, they were both fully vaccinated (and the boosters were included in the price), neutered, chipped and the lady had got to know them really well so could give us a bit of background about them and what their personalities were like.

We also got a month's free insurance for them, which was a bonus and a relief.

We went for a 5month old and his 12 month old Mum but there were loads of kittens!

I don't think I'd ever go anywhere else, tbh, I felt they were really trustworthy plus they encouraged us to call with any problems.

Good luck!

Just got my kitten from a small local rescue. They foster their cats in homes, so the kitten was brought up with her brothers and sisters in a family home, and therefore really well socialised, litter trained etc. She had a vet check at 6 weeks and the fee (£85) includes 5 weeks insurance, plus the microchipping and neutering she will have when she's big enough. If you and your family are happy with a moggy, I'd agree with everyone else that its the way to go.

Mine were advertised as available for rehoming at a local vet surgery; they'd been fostered by the vet's family after someone brought them in because they'd been dumped in the street. They weren't able to come to us until the vet was sure they were in good enough health, the rehoming contribution of £60 each included neutering and all of their first vaccinations (as well as phone calls for advice for this first time kitten owner!)

I'd never buy a cat from a breeder. Bengals turn up in shelters too, if you're dead set on a particular breed. Some shelters have stricter rules than others about age of children and whether there is someone at home all the time, but there are so many different shelters I'm sure you'd be able to find somewhere to work with you.

If you near any of the Battersea centres I would strongly recommend them. Got my last two kittens from them - they were really well socialised and the cost included neutering them when they were old enough. Battersea (Old Windsor) were really helpful all the way through the process. I'm going back for two more kittens in the new year

To add if you're set on a specific breed there are specialist breed rescues where some regular posters have got there cats from.

Hi, thanks everyone, were in Birmingham so there are a few rescue places near by, I thought we wouldnt be accepted as ive got the children (12 & 3) but im going to give a few a ring and register our interest, see if anything comes up suitable for next year, im sure there will. Wont make the same mistake again with gumtree, but at least we know the poorly kitten was looked after well in his last days. Thanks again for all the advice, sounds like gumtree need to ban the sale of live animals but then there will always be other online sites to buy pets wont there. I did tell the lady that i got the kitten from that he died but she said she wasnt a breeder, and it was her first litter, but one of her cats must have that virus for our kitten to have got it? Hopefully she doesnt keep breeding sick kittens.

You may have more chance of rehoming an adult cat than a kitten if your youngest is only 3, as some rescues have a "no kittens to homes with an under 5" policy. You may well also find that reputable breeders could be hesitant on allowing you to buy with a smaller child - most purebreds breeders are very fussy about where their kittens are going, which IMO is A Good Thing & shows they genuinely care about the animals.

This isn't a reflection on your DC, so much as a recognition that it's harder for young children to judge what is and isn't appropriate and safe for the cat, and reduce the chances of the child getting bitten or scratched as well.

A kitten will only stay as a kitten for a few months, whereas with an adult cat you will have a good idea of it's personality before offering it a home, and the rescue should be able to match you to a cat that suits you and your family.